I'm no expert, but I think slabbed coins might raise an eyebrow or two. People don't slab junk.
Posted on 09/13/2015 8:46:23 AM PDT by Rockitz
It’s well-known that you have to make a declaration if you physically transport $10,000 or more in cash or monetary instruments in or out of the US, or almost any other country; governments collude on these things, often informally.
Gold has always been in something of a twilight zone in that regard. It’s no longer officially considered money. So it’s usually regarded as just a commodity, like copper, lead, or zinc, for these purposes. The one-ounce Canadian Maple Leaf and US Eagle both say they’re worth $50 of currency.
But I’ve recently had some disturbing experiences crossing borders with coins. Of course, crossing any national border is potentially disturbing at any time. You might find yourself interrogated, strip searched, or detained for any reason or no reason. But I suspect what happened to me in three of the last four borders I crossed could be a straw in the wind.
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I haven’t seen any official statements about the movement of gold coins, but it seems probable that governments are spreading word to their minions. After all, $10,000 in $100 bills is a stack about an inch high; it’s hard to hide, and clearly a lot of money. But even at currently depressed prices, $10,000 is only nine Maple Leafs, a much smaller volume. Additionally, the coins are immune to currency-sniffing dogs, are much less likely to be counterfeit, and don’t have serial numbers. And if they’re set aside for a few years, they won’t be damaged by water, fire, insects, currency inflation, or the complete replacement of a currency. Gold coins are in many ways an excellent way to subvert capital controls. And I think they’ll become much more popular in that role.
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(Excerpt) Read more at internationalman.com ...
If the gold was bright and shiny, I could see them getting caught. However, if you mixed in enough copper to give it a tarnished appearance, it would not look like gold.
There are not enough customs agents to check for every piece of metal with a special conductivity machine.
The smugglers are probably still doing metals smuggling with more concealable alloys. Customs would have to be tipped off to check them.
I’m working on my second billion—the first one was too hard to make.
I knew a family of Cuban-Americans who fled their home when Castro took over. Most of their wealth was confiscated but they retained a small chest of U.S. $5 gold coins. Before leaving Cuba they hired a jeweler to fashion necklaces, bracelets, belts, rings, earrings, etc. from the gold pieces. When they got on the airplane some of the younger children were staggering under the weight. But they landed in the U.S. with a nest egg to start a new life.
Are you well versed in coins and numismatics? My grandmother collected coins and she gave them all to me before she passed. I think most of them are basically worth the silver content, but there are a few that I think might have some collectible value. How would I go about getting an honest assessment of what I have? I’m talking on the order of probably 1000 coins total, so it doesn’t seem very practical for someone to put hands on every single coin, but since I’m not really a collector myself I would hate to overlook something that I think is unimportant, but could have a collectible value.
I don’t know how they were caught; it was a news story at the time (a couple of years ago). It might have had nothing at all to do with Customs.
I notice that I no longer hear comments like, “all the great freedoms we enjoy as Americans” any longer. Such comments have not made sense for a long time but it seems that now almost everyone has finally realized it. Anyone who still imagines this is a free country is pathetically deluded. It is as outdated as thinking that the manufacture of buggy whips is a booming industry.
Purchase? Why my grandfather and great uncle gave those coins to me when I was a boy.
Classmate of Bill Clinton? Was Doug a draft dodger as well? There is no mention of military service in his lean Wikipedia entry.
” “Thai police pull stolen diamond out of woman’s butt” “
Brilliant!
I'm no expert, but I think slabbed coins might raise an eyebrow or two. People don't slab junk.
Well if all trade w china has to be pased through pms 1st...then lots of people are going to be toting heavy luggage.
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